Meeting of the Minds
by XxFiresongxX
Summary: Sequel to Fighting Fate. It's been a few weeks since Hiei returned to Ningenkai and gave Kurama a chance at being his lover, but something strange is going on with Kurama. Is the fox having second thoughts, or is something more going on? HieiKurama
1. Chapter 1

A/N – Remember that sequel I promised you, aaaaall that long time ago? Well this is the first chapter. Sorry it took so long to get up! This is the THIRD PLOT I've done! I kept being so fussy about everything I just kept changing the plot! In all I had four plots but then I just came back to this one… but now I can't change my mind because I have posted it! Hah! Anyway… I hope it doesn't stick too much to what they say about the sequel always being horrible. '-.- The first chapter is really pretty short, but it establishes the problem and it felt like the right place to end the first chapter… and I really need to stop yammering now. Don't own YYH, but I _do_ own a computer, you may blame dell for all the horrible things I do ..

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**Chapter 1**

"Damn it! Just leave it where the hell it is Kurama!" Hiei yelled angrily, trying to pull away from the fox.

"But it's so fun!" Kurama objected, brushing Hiei's hair out of place again and laughing as it snapped back persistently.

"God! What did I do to deserve this?" Hiei asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, giving up on the resistance and sitting back as Kurama continued flicking his hair and laughing in delight like a young child as it snapped back up. It had been around two or three weeks since Hiei had returned to Ningenkai and given Kurama a chance at being his lover. Kurama had been very understanding of Hiei's want to move very, _very_ slowly, he did not seem to have a problem with simply talking like they normally did. There were however, times when he did things he would never have dared to do before, flicking Hiei's hair for example, hugging Hiei was he was off guard enough being another. Hiei sighed in exasperation.

"For such a mature person…" he started.

"Hey!" Kurama cut off his anticipated comment. "Even I need a break from being the mature one. Don't forget, I have to be mature enough to make up for Yusuke and Kuwabara and that is no easy task. Even you sometimes add to my work as being the mature one," Kurama complained.

"When the hell have _I_ been immature?!" Hiei asked indignantly.

"Ok, maybe not immature… but you do have a temper I have to make up for. Why do _I_ have to be the calm, sensible one? Oh well! At least your hair is the perfect form of enjoyment, it has you, it's fun and it's cute, but that goes along with it being you doesn't it."

"You know, just because I agreed to give you a chance, doesn't mean I can't take it back… or take your head off. Which ever one suits my mood better." Kurama's hand stopped and withdrew immediately. Hiei started and looked up. He hadn't been expecting Kurama to stop just because of that.

"I'm sorry," Kurama apologized, suddenly very serious. "I won't do it if it really annoys you." Hiei blinked in confusion up at the earnest green eyes.

"…It didn't bother me _that_ much, you can do it if you really want," Hiei said reluctantly as the eyes caused guilt to flood even his cold conscience.

"Yay!" Kurama snapped from his sad mode as suddenly as he had gone into it and returned to playing with Hiei's hair. Hiei's eye twitched in annoyance.

"You little…! I can't believe I… damn! You really don't care if it annoys me, do you?!" Hiei asked angrily.

"I would stop if it really annoyed you, but you just admitted it didn't sooo… yay!" Hiei growled but endured it. 'Where the hell did Kurama get such persuading eyes! Even _I_ can't say no to them and believe me I'm experienced at saying no! He really should go into politics,' Hiei thought as he waited for Kurama's temporary insanity to wear off. He never would have guessed it from the way Kurama was always so perfectly in control but Kurama had his own spasms of insanity, like a way to keep him from going completely insane with the way he acted perfectly calm all the time. Hiei wondered how Kurama had dealt with this before he had had Hiei to annoy. Hiei wondered if anyone else even knew about this.

"By the way, did I ever tell you that you are extremely cute when you are confused? I think the only way you could be cutter is if you were happy. Will you heed my request?" Kurama asked him hopefully.

"I'll put it on my to do list," Hiei replied flatly. Kurama made a soft sad sound.

"Awww… you stole my phrase!" Kurama said, looking at him sadly, then laughing and grinning happily. "I guess I will simply have to start stealing your phrase then, won't I? Hn, what do you think?" Kurama asked, nicely imitating Hiei's cold tone.

"No," Hiei said flatly. Kurama grinned at him again.

"Would you look at that," Kurama said, finally removing his hand from Hiei's hair and letting it snap back for the last time, "my mother is home." Hiei's senses picked up on Shiori as well now.

"Saved! Thank you!" Hiei said fervently as he reached up to make sure Kurama had not succeeded in actually messing his hair up.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Kurama asked as he stood up. "I could introduce you to my mother. I'm positive she would like you."

"No, I have to go now," Hiei said quickly before jumping out of the window. Kurama smiled after him, hoping he had not gone too far with the hair. At least Hiei had allowed him to continue. That brought Kurama hope that the koorime might be beginning to return Kurama's feelings… or at least regain some of the feelings he's lost in his life. He had not expected Hiei to agree to meeting his mother, but he had faith that when he finally did she would quickly grow fond of him as Kurama had. All in all, Kurama was in a very optimistic mood.

'I still don't know why I come back here!' Hiei thought darkly as he sat in Kurama's room, waiting for the fox to return from school.

"Stupid fox with his stupid eyes and stupid politics…" Hiei grumbled nonsense to himself as he felt Kurama's energy slowly make its way up to Kurama's house. 'Can you walk any slower?!' Hiei thought impatiently as he sensed Kurama slowly slide through the front door and creep to his room.

"Hello Hiei," Kurama said wearily when he finally reached the room.

"Hn." Hiei looked the fox over critically. "What's up with you?" he asked.

"Nothing," Kurama sighed, "I'm just tired. We have a lot of tests coming up in school and I have to study quite a bit if I want to ace them," Kurama said, sitting down at his desk and setting his bag heavily on the floor.

"I can leave you to your work then," Hiei said turning away. He was surprised when Kurama did not stop him from leaving. Before when Hiei had offered to let Kurama study in peace Kurama had stopped him. He had requested the demon to stay and talk, saying he could study later but chances were that Hiei would not return again that day. However, Kurama was almost as obsessed with keeping his grades up as he was with protecting his mother. He felt that the most he could to for the woman he lied to every day was to make her son the son he felt she deserved.

Hiei watched Kurama through his jagan the next day. The fox disguised his weariness from the rest of his peers with ease.

"Prepared for the tests this Friday Shuichi-kun?" Kaitou nagged the fox like always. Kurama sighed.

"Yes Kaitou-kun. I'm studying my brains out, just for you to feel good when you beat me," Kurama replied sarcastically. Hiei stopped watching there. He really did not care about the rest of their incompetent conversation. 'Friday, alright, I'll return after Friday.' Why exactly he wanted to return was a mystery to him. Hiei was beginning to consider starting a group that killed all green eyed babies at birth so that no other demons would be put in this situation.

Hiei returned to Kurama's room that Saturday, giving the fox time to rest. Quietly he slipped through the window. Kurama set his book on the bed next to him when he heard Hiei enter.

"Hello Hiei," he said tonelessly.

"Hello Kurama," Hiei replied in confusion. 'Kurama sounds cold. Did I do something?' he wondered. There was silence between them, a silence that made even Hiei feel awkward and he usually didn't care.

"Do you need something?" Kurama asked after awhile.

"… No…" Hiei replied. "I just… I thought you said you wanted me to visit," Hiei said, his confusion deepening. Hiei as silent for a little while before he asked,"Kurama, did something happen?"

"No," Kurama replied simply. Hiei looked at the fox's empty green eyes. 'He is shutting me out…' Hiei thought simply.

"You were right Hiei," Kurama said softly after a long silence.

"Right about what?" Hiei asked.

"There is nothing, to love about you."

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A/N – Hah! Bet you weren't expecting _that_ were you?! _Big _step backward for our couple. Next chapter coming as soon as I finish it and get it edited. Oh and by the way… please no killing me for that! 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N – SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET UP!!! DON'T ABANDON ME!!! Just a little note! I'll be using (number) instead of having any author's notes so as not to interrupt the flow of the story.

WARNING – There is a character from the movie in the following chapter. There are however, no spoilers that I can notice and all you really need to know is that Kuronue was Youko's former lover which isn't a spoiler seeing as nothing was said about it.

Disclaimer – I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho and I do not own the characters… Hiei would kill me if I tried to take Kurama… (Hiei – good girl! I'll remove a few spikes from your left arm as a reward. Me – Arigatou Hiei-sama!)

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**Chapter 2**

"_There is nothing, to love about you." _The words ran through Hiei's head along with the image of Kurama's empty green eyes, eyes that held no regret, no guilt and no remorse.'He loved me and I made him hate me. He was wrong and I was right. There is nothing good about me and there is even less to love. Even if Yukina truly wants to find me now she would feel the same after she met me. I told the fox, I told him he didn't truly like me nearly as much as he thought he did. But at least now I can get this over with. I've been waiting far too long to do this. For some reason knowing the fox hates me, knowing Yukina would hate me, makes it even easier than it was before. I have no regrets. At last I will have peace.' Hiei spread himself out further on the ground to help speed the process. More snow landed softly, stinging his uncovered face as it slowly buried him. Freezing himself had seemed like the most fitting method of suicide, born from the snow that did not want him, killed by the snow that did not want him. It fit in a nice way in Hiei's mind, even if he could not return to die in the snows of Makai. He had already taken a drug to nullify his powers as he died. All that was left was to wait. He hoped that his death would be painful. He wanted to pay himself back for everything he had put Yukina through, Kurama as well. It was his fault after all, that Kurama hated him.

Pain shot through his body as small sparks of pain danced across his numbing skin. It became even more uncomfortable as his body began to truly numb. Some parts of his skin still stung with the sharp pain while others seemed not to even be attached to him anymore. The sensation was one of the most irritating things he had felt and he enjoyed it, allowing himself to fall into his own pain and discomfort. (1)

His conscience began drifting as life faded from his body. He wandered around Ningenkai, slowly being separated further and further from his body. It would not be long before death brought total freedom. But how much longer? How much longer would he have to wait? How much longer before he was finally freed from his body? How much longer before he made the long anticipated journey to Reikai? 'Not much longer now.' His mind drifted further and further from his body. 'Not long at all.'

Something or someone grabbed his mind suddenly. He was being pulled through someone else's mind. Whoever's mind it was it was a mess, the kind of mind that made Hiei think of Yusuke. It was as if someone had let out an entire zoo of thoughts, worries and feelings all in an incomprehensible jumble. Memories of unforgotten pain flashed by as Hiei was dragged further and further into the depths of the mind.

Whatever was pulling him finally let go to allow him to fall through what looked like a strange grey cloud until he finally broke through on the other side. Beneath him was a forest, a forest that matched with the rest of the mind. Dead, leafless trees bowed their heads with the weight of lifeless branches. Brown, crumpled flowers and grass decorated the ground along with a few fallen tree branches. Though the entire place was dead it seemed to be full of a strange life. It was not pleasant life though. More like a nightmare. Something created by fear, pain and sorrow. 'Hn, forget Yusuke, this mind reminds me of myself! Nice, dark and haunted, just the way I like it.'

Hiei watched as the ground quickly drew nearer and nearer. He couldn't see any point in attempting to stop his fall. He _had_ been attempting to kill himself, it really didn't matter what happened to him now. Without an ounce of fear Hiei wondered what it would feel like for his spirit form to be injured. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before. Would that speed the process of his body's death? It certainly looked like he was about to find out. As he finally fell past the tree tops Hiei closed his eyes and calmly took a deep breath, waiting to impact the ground. Something warm grabbed him.

"Hiei?!" Hiei's eyes snapped open at the sound of the voice. Wide, worried green eyes were gazing down into his. Red hair fell like a water fall from his rescuer onto his chest.

"Fox?"

"Hiei, what on Earth are you doing in my mind?!" Kurama asked, setting Hiei down on the ground. Hiei looked at the surrounding dead forest.

"_Your_ mind?" he asked. Kurama followed Hiei's gaze.

"Not what you expected, is it?"

"This doesn't look like a mind that could even work correctly, let alone work the way yours does!" Hiei commented.

"Yes, well that is currently true," Kurama agreed.

"Currently?" Hiei questioned.

"Yes, it isn't always like this."

"Then why…?" Hiei began.

"I'm not sure. My mind is… in a way, broken. I have been attempting to figure out what happened to make it break like this. I know… there was something… but I can't remember what anymore. The memory loss could have to do with the fact that my mind and soul are currently apart." Hiei raised a questioning eyebrow. Kurama explained, "There are things that happen to humans which can badly affect their minds, trauma and such. Such things usually cause the human to act strangely or have certain disabilities. Most humans think that is as far as your mind can break. It isn't. In this situation my mind was somehow sent into such turmoil it because physically uninhabitable. My spirit was sent into my mind to fix things personally because if things aren't dealt with my mind won't work, meaning my body won't have the ability to do anything." Kurama took a breath after his long explanation. His tone changed from serious to curious. "Now we all know why _I'm_ here, but I think an even more interesting question would be why _you_ are here. It is even less common for someone's spirit to end up in someone _else's_ mind."

"You pulled me here. My mind was… wandering… and you pulled me in," Hiei explained flatly. 'Why is Kurama acting so kindly to me? What happened to "there is nothing to love about you"?' Hiei wondered.

"But… for your spirit to separate it's self so much from your body…" Kurama said thoughtfully.

"It's not important," Hiei said quickly. Somehow he had the feeling that Kurama knowing he had tried to kill himself wouldn't help the situation. Too bad Kurama was the smart one. His eyes widened as sudden realization hit him.

"Hiei! You're not…! …You can't be…! Did I pull you so persistently from your body it killed you?!" Kurama asked in shock, guilt flooding into his eyes. Hiei sweat dropped. 'Ok… so he's normally the smart one… Either that or he doesn't want to believe something else killed me, meaning he wants to blame himself. Baka no kitsune.'

"Kurama, you know damned well that is impossible. You're just making things up because you want to blame yourself," Hiei said coolly. 'People only want to blame themselves when they have something to regret…' he thought.

"But… if that wasn't it… How are you…?" Kurama asked.

"I was taking care of business on a mountain and got stuck in a blizzard," Hiei lied.

"But… you're a fire demon," Kurama pointed out.

"Look, it's a long story that I'll tell you another time," Hiei firmly. 'From the way he's acting… he doesn't remember what he said… He forgot it, like the reason he was sent into his mind. But that means… he doesn't think that? Then _why the hell did he say it?!_' Hiei wondered in annoyance. "So, how do we go about fixing your mind?" he asked aloud, keeping all anger from his thoughts out of his voice.

"Well, if I can manage to reach the center of my mind I'll be able to raise the barriers again and that should fix the problem," Kurama explained.

"Ok, do you know where the center of your mind is?" Kurama nodded and turned.

"That way, I can sense it," he said confidently.

"Hn," Hiei grunted disdainfully.

"What?" Kurama asked, wondering what he'd done to annoy Hiei… not that it took much to annoy the moody fire demon.

"I've had an utter loathing for people saying they can sense things ever since I met the oaf," Hiei explained darkly. Kurama laughed. 'I should have known,' he thought.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I think we should go that way for no particular reason," Kurama said in his same confident tone from earlier. Hiei rolled his eyes but didn't retort.

"Let's go then." Without another word Hiei shot off in the direction Kurama was looking. He slowed his pace slightly to allow Kurama to catch up with him.

"About how long do you think it will take for us to get there at this pace?" Hiei asked.

"It's hard to tell," Kurama replied. "I can get a rough distance, but it isn't exact. Also we will have to rest along the way. Although the spirit lacks the necessity to eat as well as many other needs the body possesses it does require rest." They ran on in silence. It was hard to tell how long they ran seeing as any light that might have shown in a mind was covered by clouds. Finally Kurama, who sadly didn't have Hiei's endurance, had to stop.

"Mind if we rest here?" he panted, leaning against a nearby tree for support. Hiei shook his head. Sitting down, Kurama leaned his back wearily against the tree as he let his worn out legs finally rest. Without another word Hiei leapt up and swung onto the branch above Kurama's head.

Kurama waited awhile until he was fairly certain Hiei was asleep before he stood and slipped away. He needed time alone to sort some things out. If he could come to terms with the problems that were nagging him, it would help with resurrecting the barriers. And the first issue on that list was finding out what on Earth had happened to cause his mind to go into such turmoil.

Kurama stood in a clearing a little ways away from the spot where Hiei slept, breathing in the strange air that seemed to hold his thoughts, feelings and memories. If he just tune in with his mind for long enough and with enough patience he knew he could remember… remember…

_Kurama sat in his own personal, private garden, feeling his normal calm mood being restored from the surrounding green life. The atmosphere soothed his over working mind and allowed him to think clearly again. For awhile now he had been trying to remember something but he was having absolutely no luck. He knew something important had happened, but he couldn't quite remember what. It seemed he could not have peace until he remembered whatever it was that was annoying him. He inhaled the calming scent of roses, one of the most prominent plants in his garden and a piece of information resurfaced. In an instant his mind had honed in on it. The memory played out before him._

_ He sat in his room, fully absorbed in a book until someone else entered the room, so quietly and stealthily he wouldn't have noticed them if he had not sensed their energy. He set his book down and greeted his visitor._

"_Hello Hiei," he said coolly._

"_Hello Kurama," Hiei replied, sounding confused at Kurama's toneless voice._

"_Do you need something?" Kurama asked after a pause._

"…_No…" Hiei replied, his confused tone deepening. "I just… I thought you said you wanted me to visit." There was silence for a few minutes before Hiei asked, "Kurama, did something happen?"_

"_No," Kurama replied simply. "You were right Hiei," he said softly after another long silence._

"_Right about what?" Hiei asked._

"_There is nothing, to love about you." _

_The scene ended. It took his mind a few minutes to process what he'd just remembered. 'I… _I_ said that? What on Earth?! When?! That's not something I would say! But… Hiei…' Another memory resurfaced._

_ "Shuu-chan! What happened to your arm?!" Kurama's mother asked as she suddenly spotted the neatly bandaged injury Kurama had obtained during training with Hiei._

"_I tripped, the cut was not deep but rather large so it was simpler to use bandages," Kurama said quickly, feeling very thankful for the fact that his mother could not see how deep the injury truly was past the bandages. _

_The second scene ended. It was strange for him to be remembering this particular memory. It was not a very long or prominent memory in his mind. "You're lying to her," a voice at the back of his mind said. "You say you care about her more than anything, but then you turn around and lie repeatedly to her. Face it, you're a failure as a lover and a son. Not only that, but you've managed to fail two lovers at the same time! Remember this?" Another memory played in his mind._

_ "You… truly love me, don't you? You weren't lying. You… don't think of me as just another relationship to use as you please, do you?" Kuronue asked as he lay beside Youko, his arms wrapped around the fox._

"_Kuronue…" Youko shook his head in exasperation. "Did it really take you this long to figure that out? What _will_ we do with you?"_

"_Youko, I will not be used by you. I need your word that you have given yourself fully to me. Just tell me… just tell me…" Kuronue hesitated, knowing how sappy his words sounded and how it would only grow worse if he were to finish the sentence._

"_Now, now, Kuronue. You're beginning to sound sentimental! That is no tone for a thief. In answer to your question, yes, you are the only youkai I love. I am however, not so sure about giving myself fully to you… For we all know, you belong only to me and trust me, I can make it worth your while!" Youko said with an evil glint in his eyes just before he leapt on top of the unguarded demon. _

_Kurama was slightly glad that that particular memory ended there. He really didn't feel like watching what came next right now. "How noble of you!" the voice said once the scene was over. "The first person that thief ever believes in and you betray him after his death. How very noble of you!" The soft, taunting voice drew Kurama's mind in with every word. "Even if now you don't think you meant what you said to Hiei, just remember how _you_ felt when _you_ said that to him. Just remember, how did you feel?"_

'_That's right… when I told Hiei that… when I told Hiei I didn't love him… I…' Kurama's mind was pulled further into the voice's soft words. '…I…' Slowly the surrounding plants faded from his sight. '…Hiei…'_

The memory ended. Kurama stood in surprised silence, trying to regain his calm composure. 'That was when I ended up here,' he thought slightly out of focus. 'Hiei… I can't believe… what…' Kurama shook himself mentally. He would deal with that later but first he had to finish what he had started. 'It was that voice. That voice should not have been there,' Kurama thought, calmly returning to subject. 'If I'm hearing voices it could mean one of two things. Either I truly am going insane, or someone has infiltrated my mind.'

"And finally the genius figures it out," a sarcastic voice said from behind Kurama. The fox spun around instantly, having recognized the voice the moment it had begun to speak. A man was leaning against a nearby tree. Long purple hair fell in waves down his back and into his gleaming red eyes. His lean form was covered by black battle armor that covered his middle down to his feet but left his arms exposed. A small smile showed on his lips.

"So, my mind _was_ infiltrated," Kurama said angrily. "You're the one who told Hiei I didn't love him!" The man's smile widened.

"And if I was, what would you do to me?" he asked.

"I'm sure you would prefer if you _didn't_ know what was happening to your body as I am repaying you for what you did!" Kurama snarled. For the first time in his life he was genuinely furious. Not the usual calm anger, but burning rage like nothing he had ever experienced before and it was not a pleasant feeling. He could now understand Hiei's temper a little better. The man laughed softly.

"What is so funny?" Kurama snapped.

"Simply the fact, that you think you can hurt me," the man said, grinning.

"Can't I?!" Kurama reach out a hand to one of the closer trees in an attempt to attack with it, but the branches remained immobile. The man laughed again.

"You can't fight me using a dead mind." Kurama abandoned tactic and charged in a very unKurama like way with his fist raised. The man laughed again. Three feet away from hitting the man's face the ground under Kurama's feet slipped away. He fell; fell through darkness, a seemingly endless hole. Kurama eyes closed to block out the wind that whipped by, threatening to dry them.

"Oy! Kurama! Hey, c'mon man, wake up!" The voice startled Kurama. He was no longer falling, but lying on soft grass. Slowly his eyes opened to see Yusuke looking down at him.

"Yu…suke…?" he asked in confusion. Yusuke sighed in relief.

"Good, you're awake. I was afraid I'd have to take you to Genkai!" Kurama sat up and blinked at Yusuke in confusion.

"Good! He's awake! You ok Kurama?" Kuwabara asked, entering the clearing with a bottle of water. "Here." He handed the water to Kurama.

"Thank you… Um… What's going on?" Kurama asked.

"You passed out," Yusuke told him. "Bam! Just like that! One moment you were saying something about some school thing Keiko wanted you to help me with… I wasn't really paying attention… then the next moment you were on the ground!"

"Yeah," Kuwabara agreed. "It was really creepy!"

"You staying up all night to study for your test or something? I mean come on Kurama, you're a genius! It won't help you pass the test if you kill yourself studying!" Yusuke said.

"Test? …What subject?" Kurama asked.

"You hit your head or something? Let's see… I know there are four main subjects, right? …They aaaare… Science… Japanese… History… aaaaand… that one I've never gone to in my life… I think it was called…" (2)

"Math?" Kurama suggested.

"Yeah! That!" Kurama sighed

"Honestly Yusuke, it wouldn't _kill_ you to at least know what the subjects are!"

"Hey! You're lucky I didn't say 'health, energy, weapons and inventory!'" Yusuke retorted. Kurama sighed in exasperation.

"The arcade _isn't_ school!"

"Well, yeah! Do you think I'd go there if it was?! Anyway I'm pretty sure you said it was a math test. Does that help?" Yusuke asked.

'Math…' Kurama thought. 'Could it be… this is before the tests? Thinking back… I remember walking through this place with Yusuke and Kuwabara just a few days before the tests. Then… was everything that happened just a dream I had while I was unconscious? I was never trapped in my mind?' he wondered. 'Well… my mind definitely _feels_ intact now… unless this is some strange illusion created by whoever supposedly infiltrated my mind. But… if this is real… then Hiei…'

"Hiei, where is he?" Kurama asked urgently.

"In his tree," Kuwabara replied quickly. "I saw him when I went to get water."

"You sure you're feeling ok foxy?" Yusuke asked.

"Fine," Kurama replied, standing up on shaking legs. "Thank you Yusuke, Kuwabara. I'm sorry for worrying you." Kurama turned and shot of in the direction of the park. Yusuke yelled something after him but Kurama didn't hear him and further more didn't really care. To Kurama's relief Hiei's youki came into his senses as he approached the koorime's tree.

_//Hiei!//_ Kurama mind called the fire demon. _//Hiei, are you there?//_ In less than a second Hiei appeared in front of him.

"Sit down!" he commanded firmly, pushing Kurama onto a bench. "Drink that!" Hiei indicated the bottle of water in Kurama's hand. Knowing better than to argue with Hiei, especially when the koorime was using that tone, Kurama obeyed without question, opening the bottle and draining half the contents before Hiei was content.

"Hiei, is something wrong? You look slightly panicked… for you," Kurama said once he had finished.

"_You_ are the last person I expected to hear that from!" Hiei snapped, reaching a hand out to Kurama's forehead.

"You don't have a fever. Do you feel alright?"

"Yes, fine," Kurama replied in confusion. "Hiei, what's going on?"

"The big oaf just told me you _fainted!_ That _isn't_ normal for demons. It takes a lot to knock a demon unconscious, yet you fainted for no apparent reason. This could be serious. If anything happened I need to know!" Kurama looked into Hiei's empty eyes and to his surprise he saw worry flickering there.

"Hiei… do you remember… did I ever tell you… there is nothing to love about you?" Kurama asked.

"No, why?"

"I had… a dream… when I was unconscious.. or at least that's what I think it was," Kurama explained.

"And? What happened?" Hiei prompted. Kurama took a deep breath and told Hiei everything he remembered. He told him about how he had suddenly found himself trapped in his mind, how Hiei himself had literally fallen into his mind as well, how Hiei had told him he was dying, how Kurama had remembered what happened and how he had ended up waking up to Yusuke. Hiei listened closely through the whole story.

"This could just have been a dream caused by guilt that was somehow reawakened, or fear of something you thought might come," Hiei said thoughtfully once he had finished. "Like… you said you didn't want to hurt me and you're afraid you will do just that, aren't you?" Kurama didn't say anything. Hiei had found the truth so easily, despite Kurama's mask. Hiei interpreted Kurama's silence correctly. There was nothing Hiei could say that would rid Kurama of the doubt he place on himself and Hiei knew it. "But that still doesn't explain why you passed out…" Hiei said thoughtfully. He sighed in resignation. "Damn! I hate not being able to figure things out! Sometimes I wonder why I don't cut thinking out of my life… then I look at the detective… and suddenly remember exactly how much I like thinking." Hiei looked up at the sound of Kurama's soft laughter. A small smile twitched at the koorime's lips. "You feel alright now?" he asked, quickly wiping any pleasure from his face.

"Yes," Kurama assured him.

"Ok, I'm not completely sure what happened but there's no way in hell I'm about to figure it out in the next few minutes… just tell me if anything else happens, got it?!" Kurama looked into Hiei's earnest red eyes. The fire demon was worried for him… Wait! …_Hiei_ was _worried_ about _him!_ The idea took awhile for his mind to process. A surge of warmth shot through his body when the idea finally sank in. Kurama couldn't help but reach forward and draw Hiei into a hug. For the first time the koorime didn't fight back. Slowly Kurama felt Hiei's arms wrap around him, returning the embrace.

"I'm… glad you're ok," Hiei said in a soft, embarrassed voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm glad you're alright as well," he said softly. 'It this really real? Is Hiei actually hugging me? Under the circumstances I'm inclined to think this is just an illusion created by whoever infiltrated my mind… but… Hiei feels so real!' The two boys broke apart when Hiei came back to his normal self and pulled away quickly.

"Well, you have a test to study for, don't you? Mind if I stay with you?" Hiei asked, carefully keeping his eyes from meeting Kurama's.

"It won't be much fun if I'm studying," Kurama replied.

"I don't care. I'm sure I can find something to do. I want to make sure you're actually alright like you claim you are. You have a moronic tendency to be dishonest when it comes to your personal issues."

"Alright," Kurama agreed, knowing better than to argue with Hiei or defend himself against the comment he knew was true.

The rest of the day he spent studying while Hiei looked at things around his room. Looking, examining, poking and jumping when something made a noise when he poked it like Kurama's cell phone and his alarm clock. Kurama couldn't help but have trouble keeping his attention on his book and not on the koorime's innocent curiosity. A few hours later his mother returned from work and Hiei left as usual.

That night Kurama lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling with his hand folded between the pillow and the back of his head. 'It's hard to believe, that everything that happened with my mind was just a dream, but that's the way it seems now, a very vivid dream though…' Kurama thought. He would have thought on it more but his weary eyes were already closing. Sleep cleared his wondering mind. His eyes snapped open almost immediately as he felt his surroundings change. In a second he was sitting up, looking around. The surrounding trees and grass beneath him told him he was back in the dead forest of his mind.

"Finally awake?" Kurama turned his head to see Hiei sitting against a nearby tree. "Good, we should get going. Which way?" Kurama blinked in confusion a few times before he came back to his senses. 'Right, we were finding the center of my mind. Even if this is a dream I might as well go along with it. I think I'm beginning to understand what's going on. One of the two worlds is real and the other is a fake created by who ever infiltrated my mind. I will have to decipher which world is real if I want to truly move forward in either world. Until I figure out which world is real I will not be able to find anything about whoever infiltrated my mind, who he works with or what he wants until I have figured the puzzle out and in this world Hiei and I will remain trapped here until I discover the truth. For now I will have to live the two lives until I can discover which one is real. Back to dealing with the current moment…' Kurama opened himself to his senses.

"That way," he said once he had locked on.

"Are you alright?" Hiei asked. "You're acting strangely."

"It's nothing," Kurama replied, "I'm just a little off balance from separation between my spirit and my body. Come on." Without another word Kurama shot off in the direction he sensed.

It was hard to talk casually to Hiei. Not when he doubted whether this world was real, not when he doubted whether even Hiei himself, was real. Needless to say, the run was not a very talkative one.

The two boys ran in silence until Kurama's limits stopped them again. Hiei jumped up to the branch above Kurama without a word. It was obvious that things were rather awkward between them and not just on Kurama's part. Still there was nothing really Kurama could do until he knew more. With a sigh of exasperation at the situation he was in he let his tired eyes fall shut.

Beeping filled Kurama's ears. He reopened his eyes to find himself back in his room. The frail amount of sunlight shining through his window told him it was morning. On impulse he reached out and turned off his alarm. Taking a few moments to gather his wits in the new world he got up and dressed himself casually, just as he always had and went down stairs to go to school.

"Have a good day," his mother said, kissing him on the cheek just like she always had.

"Good bye mother!" he called to her like he always did. Everything was normal, everything felt so much more real here than the other world. Kurama went to a normal day of school and came home, starting immediately on his homework, just like always. He set down his pencil as he finished the last problem on a sheet of math homework and turned when he felt familiar energy shoot through his window.

"Hello Hiei!" he said brightly.

"Hn." The fire demon smirked. "You're acting normal again."

"Well I can't act strangely too much you know! Seeing as I _am_ the only truly mature one here I have a duty to stay sane. With my company that is harder than it sounds and I'm referring to Kuwabara and Yusuke, no insult to you," Kurama said, dipping his head to the small koorime.

"Hn, don't worry about it. I've never thought of myself as the well thought out type. 'Kill or be killed' is my philosophy and in my world it is all that matters." Kurama smiled. Hiei paused for a few seconds before he asked, "So, did it happen again?"

"Did what happen?" Kurama asked.

"Last night, did you have the dream?" Kurama's smile flickered slightly. "Hn, I thought so," Hiei said.

"Why are you asking? Is the dream important?"

"It was a dream that occurred during an unnatural set of circumstances, so yes, it _is_ important." There was a silence before Hiei asked, "Kurama… do you still think the other world is real?" Kurama looked away from Hiei. It was hard to tell someone that you doubted whether they really existed. If this Hiei was fake, just a dream, he would go away and none of this would have happened… but if he was real… then Kurama would be telling Hiei he couldn't tell the real fire demon from a fake, but it would be even worse if Kurama were to lie to Hiei.

"It's not impossible," Kurama said softly.

"Listen Kurama, you need to be careful," Hiei said seriously. "With dreams like this everything is your decision. If you choose to believe it could be real it will continue to haunt your sleep. If you choose to believe it is what it is, simply a dream, it will go away and if you choose to believe it is real you will be trapped in it. Not only that but if something happens to you while you're in the other world the injury will affect your physical body here!"

"I know that! …But… if the other you is…" Kurama sighed, "I don't want to hurt you, whether this is truly you or not," Kurama said reluctantly. Hiei looked at Kurama, a touch of sympathy making it through his mask and reaching his eyes.

"Kurama just think! There are so many things pointing to it being false. I mean, does it make sense that you would be having this dream while trapped inside your mind? Can you even dream in a situation like that? Doesn't the whole thing seem a bit far fetched? Even for a demon, having your mind pushed past the breaking point is rare. The final decision is yours but please, heed my words." With that Hiei turned and shot out the window, leaving Kurama alone to think. The fox sighed. He felt like he'd been doing far too much of that lately, even for him.

'He's right about everything he said…' Kurama thought. 'But still…' He wasn't ready to make any final decisions just yet. Not when the final decision could mean the difference between being trapped in a dream and returning normal life. There was no harm to be done by living the two lives for awhile longer. Kurama sighed. 'I just hope that in the end I'll make the right choice.' The sound of Shiori's return pulled his thoughts back. To keep his thoughts from the disturbing subject Kurama went down stairs to greet his mother and help her prepare dinner. However despite his efforts his thoughts still wandered to the issue of the two different worlds anyway.

'What Hiei said _was_ right. The other world seems so… unrealistic… even for demons,' Kurama thought as he chopped vegetables. 'Still…'

"Shuichi! Be careful!" his mother yelled. Kurama looked down just in time to see his knife heading straight for his finger. Quickly he moved his hand away but not quickly enough. Blood blossomed from a thin gash along the edge of his finger. His mother was next to him in a second, examining the cut.

"It doesn't look like it did any real damage, thank god," she said. "Really Shuichi, be careful! Don't zone out with knives! Go wash the cut off," his mother instructed him as she left toward the bathroom to get band aids.

"Sorry," he apologized when she returned.

"No need to be sorry, just be careful," she said, applying gem killer on the cut and carefully wrapping a band aid around his finger. It really wasn't necessary to do all this for the small cut, but size didn't matter in a mother's eyes. Not to mention the fact that his mother had just watched her son nearly lose his finger. Her extra care was understandable. "There," Shiori sighed as a small smile twitched at her lips. "I remember doing this when you were five! You were so cute back then!" she said, reaching out and ruffling his hair.

"Oh? And what am I now?" Kurama asked with a smile.

"I _don't_ know… were still waiting for the test results on what in the _world_ you are!" she said with a shake of her head. "You're far too amazing to be human!"

"Is that so?" Kurama asked, laughing to himself as he turned back to chopping the vegetables.

With his mother to take his mind off things the rest of the preparations for the meal and the meal itself went without thoughts of his dilemma.

After dinner he offered to clear the table himself, half dreading what awaited him in his dream this night. _"…if something happens to you while you're in the other world the injury will affect your physical body here!"_ Hiei's words rang through Kurama's mind. Was it possible that something might happen in the dream? Was that the true plan of who ever infiltrated his mind? What would his mother do when she came to wake him and found him bleeding or dead? But if he didn't go into the other world and it was real his real mother and the real Hiei would lose him and the real Hiei would be stuck in Kurama's mind. All this uncertainty pestered even Kurama's calm conscience.

Awhile later Kurama climbed the stairs to his room. He took extra time in removing his clothes and slipping into his bed. It was awhile before he finally let sleep claim his troubled mind. Kurama opened his eyes to the other world. He sat up and looked around for Hiei locating the fire demon crouched by a nearby.

"Which way?" asked Hiei, short, sweet and straight to the point. Despite doubts he had about this world the Hiei here seemed a bit more realistic than the other one. Kurama stood, gathering his senses.

"That way," he said and immediately started off. He had all faith in Hiei's ability to catch up with his, to Hiei, slow pace. Kurama was more than relieved when they came to another resting spot without incident. No ambushes, no fatal injuries, nothing.

"About how much further?" Hiei asked as Kurama sat down.

"Not too far," Kurama replied one he'd regained his breath. "We should make it in either the next run or the one after that."

"Good," Hiei said before jumping up into the tree above Kurama. Kurama sighed and leaned back against the tree. He was about to rest himself when a glint of red caught his eye. Blood was streaming down his finger from a cut… One that was exactly identical to the one he had obtained in the other world. 'I suppose that proves what Hiei said about injury,' Kurama thought as he tore a piece of cloth from his shirt to bind his cut with. 'So, does that prove this world is real, or does it prove that that rule works in reverse as well? Somehow, I get the feeling it's the second choice. For some reason, this wound doesn't seem real, but I'm not sure why.' Kurama pulled the cloth tight, preparing for the jolt of pain it would cause… Nothing. Kurama wondered for a moment why it hadn't hurt, when he realized the cut had never hurt. 'That's why I didn't notice it earlier, because it doesn't hurt here… It doesn't hurt here… There is a saying, "you can't feel pain in a dream" isn't there? Then… that would mean…' Kurama looked up at the black shadow in the tree that was "Hiei." 'Then that means this world is the fake.' He went through the evidence in his mind and smiled. 'Yes.' He was content, his decision was made. With one last deep breath of the strange air, he whispered, "Good bye." His eyes closed on the fake world for the last time.

Kurama woke in the real world. No thoughts of the other world passed through his mind that day. That night he didn't dream.

* * *

A/N – ¿Te gusta¡Si te gusta dame un comentario por favor! (In English with a few words and a bit of flavor added… just a few… I'm not changing it completely… I don't actually not know Spanish… I'm not just putting down random Spanish sounding wors…) 

Hiei – glare unsheathes katana

Me – sweat drop heh… heh… heh…?

Kurama – sigh she said (exact translation) "You like? If you like give me a comment please."

Me – Exactly! I knew that! …Really!

Hiei – glare …Can I kill her anyway?

Kurama – looks me over sighs Yeah, sure, why not?

Me – running TT I thought you liked me Kurama!

Kurama – Where on Earth did she get _that_ idea?!

Hiei – Hn, beats me! These creatures are just stupid. slice

Me – tear Well, thanks to _someone_ the next chapter may take awhile… (He didn't have to _kill_ me! TT)

* * *

(1) – I have no idea what it feels like to freeze to death, so please excuse my incompetence at writing about it. If you have ever had such an experience feel free to inform me of the sensation. 

(2) – No idea how schools in Japan differ from schools in America so I'm going to pretend it's the same-ish…


	3. Chapter 3

A/N – Here's the next chapie! Sorry if the last one was kinda weird and confusing. I guarantee things will become clearer! Wah! It wouldn't let me do my pretty scene change so I settled for a ruler. Anyone else notice how many characters they're refusing to show? Meh!

(Low announcer's voice) Previously in Meeting of the Minds – _Kurama woke in the real world. No thoughts of the other world passed through his mind that day. That night he didn't dream.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"So, what's happened?" Hiei asked as soon as he entered Kurama's room in his normal, quiet way.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I aced the test we had today, but now of course my teacher immediately gives us a project that counts toward fifty percent of our grades. Honestly, you'd think they could space this out a little," Kurama said casually.

"I don't care about that!" Hiei snapped. "I meant did you have the dream baka no kitsune!" Kurama laughed.

"I know. I just felt like annoying you. I have to do it periodically or else I'll be failing in my duties as your stupid fox," he said brightly.

"Fox," Hiei snarled warningly.

"No, I didn't have the dream," Kurama told him.

"Then you've decided this world is real?"

"Yep!"

"Good," Hiei smiled. "I knew you'd come to the right conclusion, you _are_ the perceptive one, aren't you?" A flash of surprise went through Kurama's eyes for a split second and he turned them to Hiei. 'That was… a compliment?' he wondered.

"Anyway, now that I have come to the conclusion that this world is real it would be wise to begin a search for whoever infiltrated my mind," Kurama said.

"I agree, however I don't think there is much we can do right now. So far we have no leads on where he is, who he is or even what he's planning. All we know is that he somehow managed to infiltrate your mind, hn, lot of good _that's_ gonna do us!" Hiei said sarcastically.

"You're right," Kurama agreed. "I'm afraid the most we can do is inform Koenma of the circumstances and hope he can find something more."

"Can I trust you to take care of that? I really have no desire to go to Reikai or to speak with Koenma," Hiei said flatly.

"Yes, I will take care of it."

"Good." Hiei turned to leave but Kurama stopped him.

"Hiei," he said. The koorime turned back.

"Yeah?"

"Are you hungry?" Kurama asked.

"…No…" Hiei replied, confused by the seemingly pointless question.

"Thirsty?" Kurama asked hopefully.

"…Not really…"

"Tired? Bored? Lonely?"

"…If this has a point would you please get to it?" Hiei asked impatiently. Kurama sighed.

"Would you like to stay for awhile?" he asked.

"…Aren't you going to Koenma?"

"I will… but… Oh come on Hiei! Even if we're just on a trial lover period we haven't even been on one date! I never get to spend any quality time with you!" Kurama pouted childishly. Hiei rolled his eyes.

"If I were to stay... what would you want to do?" Hiei asked indirectly, staring pointedly and a small black speck on Kurama's wall.

'I would _like_ to do the kind of cuddly things you despise… however I get the feeling you wouldn't really be into that...' Kurama thought.

"What ever you'd like to do," he said simply.

"…And if I don't want to do anything?"

"I can do nothing with the best of them!" Kurama boasted proudly. Hiei rolled his eyes but without the annoyed look he usually had when he did that.

"…Spar?" he asked.

"I can spar too! I'm just that awesome!" Kurama said with sarcastic pride. "To the forest then?"

"Hn," Hiei grunted just before he leapt from Kurama's window and down the tree to the ground. As usual Kurama went through the old fashion, boring door and met Hiei outside. He reached out took Hiei's hand in his own, feeling the koorime tense instantly. Slowly Kurama felt Hiei loosen up as they made their way toward the clearing in the forest where they usually sparred.

The sky had begun to darken and the air was cooling when Kurama finally decided he really should be getting to Koenma. He bid Hiei good bye, giving the reluctant koorime a good bye hug before leaving for Reikai.

* * *

"Back again Kurama?" Botan asked. "Really, usually it's _me_ who comes to get you guys not you coming all the way to Reikai! What's up now?" Botan asked as she led him toward Koenma's office. 

"It's a long story. Feel free to listen along with Koenma if you wish," Kurama said seriously, the joy he'd felt with Hiei gone to be replaced by his normal serious, stony mask that he usually wore when dealing with trouble.

"I'm not sure I like your tone Kurama," Botan said, a hint of concern in her voice. "Someone else isn't hurt like Hiei was, are they?"

"No. As I've said it's a long story." Botan nodded to show she understood. About half a minute later she stopped by Koenma's door, pressing the button on the communication panel beside the door.

"Koenma-sama? Kurama's here to see you," she said, letting go of the button once she'd finished her message. In about a second the doors began to slowly swing open.

"Welcome," Koenma said invitingly as light streamed into the hall they were waiting in. "Please come in." Kurama followed Botan into the prince's bright office, hearing the door close behind them.

"So then, what can I do for you Kurama?" Koenma asked in a very business like fashion.

"I want to know, have you sensed anything strange in Ningenkai?" Kurama asked.

"No," Koenma replied. "Should we have?"

"Well, either I'm going insane or someone has infiltrated my mind," Kurama said.

"What?!" Botan exclaimed. "When?! What happened?!"

"I'm not exactly sure when they made it into my mind but I've had some trouble recently. I know what the demon looks like however I did not sense his energy," Kurama explained.

"Hold up!" Koenma stopped him. "Could you make this a little clearer? I mean, how could you have seen him but not sensed him?"

"He appeared in my dream," Kurama said simply. He really didn't feel like giving a blow by blow account of the last few days and the dreams. "Look as I said, it's a long story and it would be best if you set to finding the demon as swiftly as possible."

"Right, this is going to take some work and time. You should probably return to Ningenkai before you mother notices you're missing. I'll start a search for the demon," Koenma said with a sigh at the fact that he had even more work to do now.

"Thank you," Kurama said, bowing slightly before allowing Botan to lead him out.

"Are you alright Kurama?" Botan asked nervously.

"Huh?"

"You rely on your mind a lot, don't you? It's probably the worst thing you could have not working," she said.

"Don't worry, I'll work things out," Kurama assured her. Without another word he slipped through the portal that connected Reikai to Ningenkai and returned to his human mother.

* * *

No news of the demon came in the days that followed. Indeed, it was a week before Botan finally arrived in Ningenkai, gathering them all together with the news that the demon had been found. 

"Hn, it took you idiots long enough," Hiei growled when Botan delivered the news.

"Wait, how come Hiei already knew about this demon? I thought you guys just found him," Yusuke said. Neither he nor Kuwabara had been informed of the possible demon in Ningenkai.

"It's a long story," Kurama said for what felt like the thousandth time. "I'll tell you later. All you need to know is that a dangerous demon is lurking in Ningenkai."

"Then again, that's all I really need to know at all. Let's go kick some ass!" Yusuke said, punching his fist into the palm of his other hand.

"Did you find anything else out about this demon?" Kurama asked Botan as she led them from Yusuke's house.

"No, I'm afraid not. We couldn't get anything on this demon, no history, nothing. Only that his energy was there, it's as if he just appeared from nowhere. Hopefully we found the one that was messing with you. If there are numerous demons in Ningenkai it could mean there's a problem with the barrier," she said nervously. "Anyway, he's quite a ways away so we'll probably need to take the bus to get there. That's part of why we had trouble finding him, we expected him to be closer," Botan explained to the entire group.

'If he's far away that would mean is he a powerful demon, to be able to break through my barriers at a distance,' Kurama thought as they neared the bus station. Hiei had left awhile ago after asking Botan where they would be getting off the bus. Without Hiei there and only Yusuke and Kuwabara to possibly talk to, Kurama was rather quiet for the bus ride. They got off awhile later, meeting up with Hiei once they'd gotten away from humans. As Botan began leading them further and further from the human city Kurama felt himself becoming strangely nervous. It felt as if he could sense something, something he had sensed long ago. A faint, faint trace of energy seemed to stir Youko inside him.

"Alright, we're getting close to the demon, everyone ready to face him?" Botan asked as they made their way through a forest.

"He's just a demon Botan. We've face thousands of them. I think we can handle this one," Yusuke said easily. Kurama nodded in agreement.

"Yes, we don't really have any choice about facing him anyway. We might as well do it now," he said.

"Alright, alright! I was just checking! We should be running into him anytime now," she said, looking down at the compass.

"What'da ya mean?" Yusuke asked. "I don't sense anything. If he were that close don't you think _I'd_ sense something?!"

"It's either _you_ or the compass! Which do you think _I'm_ going to trust?!" Botan asked.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe the one that's _alive!_" Yusuke retorted.

"Hn, much as I despise agreeing with the detective, I don't sense anything either," Hiei said.

"Yeah, same here," Kuwabara agreed.

"What?! Really? …Maybe the compass is off… What about you Kurama?" Botan asked.

"Nothing," Kurama lied quickly, maybe too quickly. Though Botan started tapping the watch worriedly and Yusuke and Kuwabara just kept walking, he suddenly felt Hiei's eyes burning holes in his side.

_//What do you sense?//_ Hiei asked coolly into Kurama's mind.

_//I just said, nothing,//_ Kurama replied easily, though the tone of voice was enough to make his insides curl.

_//You lied,//_ Hiei said flatly.

_//Now, why would I do that?//_ Kurama asked innocently.

_//Do I look like I'm you?//_ Hiei snapped.

_//I assure you, I sense nothing,//_ Kurama said calmly.

_//Kurama li—//_ Hiei was cut off suddenly. He turned to look at Kurama's blank face in shock. 'He just blocked me out. He just blocked me from his mind! That bastard!' Hiei dug his fingernails angrily into his palms, turning away from Kurama.

"Any luck Botan?" Yusuke asked in a bored tone.

"No, the compass still says there's a demon close by," Botan said in an annoyed tone.

"How do you know it isn't just picking up on Hiei and Kurama?" Yusuke asked.

"We enabled the compass to ignore certain youki and programmed Hiei and Kurama's into it," Botan explained absent mindedly, still fiddling with the compass. Hiei turned back to Kurama to see the fox's eyes flicking around as if searching for something. The movement was so quick it was hardly noticeable.

'He senses something. Why the _hell_ doesn't he tell _us?!_' Hiei wondered angrily. Lately the fox had been doing a very, _very_ good job of getting on his nerves, almost better than the two bakas… almost.

"The compass _might_ be on to something we just can't sense…" Botan said. "I mean, it's supposed to be state of the art. Maybe it would be best if we split up and looked around for any demons."

"Why? Doesn't the compass have a locater thingamabober?" Yusuke asked.

"It doesn't seem to be working. There might be two demons interfering with its ability to pinpoint either youkai."

"Heh, so much for 'state of the art'," Yusuke said. "How do we know it's not just messing up? I don't wanna waste my time on a wild goose chase!" Botan's eye twitched in annoyance.

"We're splitting up and searching individually for the stupid demon!" she yelled angrily at Yusuke.

"Ok then! See Botan?! All you need to do is take some initiative!" Yusuke said brightly.

"Just go find the bloody demon!" she snapped at him.

"'Kay! Later!" Yusuke said, striding away from the group and into the nearby trees with his arms folded behind the back of his head.

"Really! Someday that boy is going to drive me crazy!" she said with an exasperated sigh.

"Well, I believe we should all follow Yusuke's lead, aside from the witty back talk," Kurama said.

"Yeah, good luck Kurama," Kuwabara said, ignoring Hiei and leaving into the trees as well. Kurama turned and vanished into a different portion of the trees. Hiei vanished as well, reappearing in the branches of a tree just above where Kurama was walking. 'Let's see what the fox 'can't sense',' Hiei thought as he set to following Kurama's path, making a good distance between them so as not to be sensed, but looking ahead with his jagan eye.

* * *

Kurama was being lead along a path. Not by the energy he had sensed earlier, but by a different energy. He had lost track of Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei's energy, but he didn't really take any notice of that. His eyes seemed immaterial. The energy was leading him around the trees in his way, giving him a path through any obstacle that came between him and what ever was calling him. Whoever this was they obviously wanted to see him. Either they did not want to harm him, or they had some way to insure a victory against him. Kurama really preferred the first choice, though sadly that wasn't usually the case. 

Kurama's path finally broke into a clearing where a man in black armor was standing, leaning against a tree with his arms folded across his chest and red eyes gazing out at him from under purple hair.

'I wonder how long demons of this type spend on finding the best position to be standing in when their target arrives,' Kurama wondered. Quickly he shook himself. 'What the hell am I thinking?! Come on Kurama! Focus! ...He doesn't seem to have any immediate advantages…'

"Hello Kurama," the demons said smoothly, breaking his train of thought. Kurama blinked then quickly tried to get himself back on track, surprised at how easily the addition of a single voice had broken his concentration.

"Did you miss me?" the demon asked, breaking his concentration once again with ease. Kurama looked up in surprise. 'Miss him?' he wondered.

"Do I know you?" Kurama asked.

"I'm hurt! Have you forgotten me so quickly?!" the demon asked with fake pain in his voice. "I'm the one who infiltrated you mind, don't you remember?" Kurama blinked. 'Infiltrated my mind…? What is he…?' Suddenly Kurama remembered the entire reason Koenma had been searching for a demon in the area. 'Kurama you idiot! What the fucking hell are you doing?! Pull your friggin' act together moron!'

"Looks like someone's asking me to kick his ass!" Kurama said aloud. "I think I need to teach you why you shouldn't piss me off!" Suddenly Kurama froze. Blood fell from the sky.

"Ah, it looks like he's arrived," the demons said, looking up. Kurama followed his gaze, the next second a figure crashed down to the ground in front of him, blood streaming in the air behind him. Kurama's eyes widened as the recognized the face.

"Hiei!" He rushed forward and checked the koorime for a pulse. 'Still alive.' "Hiei!" he yelled, shaking the unconscious body on the ground. "Hiei!"

"Hm, I wasn't expecting that. Master must have gotten carried away," the grinning demon said from his tree.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Kurama snapped. The demon pointed up in the direction Hiei had fallen from. Kurama followed his finger. His eyes landed on the tip of a large black wing. Slowly they moved along the wing to the figure in the center of two large black wings. His eyes widened even further, if that was possible.

"Ku…Kuronue…?" The dark demon swooped down from the sky, landing softly on the grass near the purple haired demon, holding a blood soaked, curved knife with a long, thin string for throwing purposes in each hand.

"Kuronue… You're alive!" Kurama exclaimed, feeling Youko speaking through him. He could practically feel the demon inside him reaching out, yearning for his lover. Kuronue looked down at Hiei on the ground.

"He was following our little fox. I didn't want him to interfere with my revenge," he said coldly before turning back to Kurama. "I won't let anything get between me and my revenge on you, you traitor."

"Kuronue… What…?" Kurama began but Kuronue was obviously not listening. The thief leapt up into the air, using his wings to glide above Kurama's head. Kurama watched in shock as he swooped down toward him, the blood stained knife aimed toward his left arm. Kurama felt his muscles strain to move, however his body stayed firmly in place and Kurama knew why.

_//Youko! Let me move!//_ he yelled at the fox in his mind.

_//No!//_ This was the first time Youko had interfered with Kurama's normal life or that Kurama had heard Youko's voice in his mind. They were usually more separate than that. Something was breaking the barrier between the two demons.

_//Youko, MOVE!//_ Kurama thought urgently. In a second pain shot through his shoulder. His body rolled backward with the impact of the knife.

"Take the first blow as a curse," Kuronue spat as he landed beside him.

"Kuronue!" Youko said through Kurama. "I have not betrayed you! The lover is Minamino's!"

"Shut up," Kuronue's knife tore across Kurama's chest. Kurama held back a cry of pain. "Come now!" Kuronue yelled as he thrashed Kurama more with his knives. "Come on! Tell me! Does it hurt?! Do you regret it now?! _Tell me!_ I won't stop until I hear you scream! I know this hurts! Scream! Scream and it will all end! Scream you traitorous bastard!"

'H…he's gone mad!' Kurama thought as he strained to escape Kuronue's knives. Blow after blow came down on Kurama's partly human body,sending pain coursing through his veins.

_//Youko, you're going to get us killed!//_ Kurama yelled in his mind.

_//Shut up Shuichi!//_ Youko said coldly. _//Tell me, if this were Hiei who was trying to kill us, would you run?//_ Kurama struggled to think of a response through the pain of the repeated knife strokes.

_//How do you know it's even him?! He's dead! You saw him die yourself and he's never acted like this before,//_ Kurama said finally.

_//I know my lover,//_ Youko said simply. _//Whatever you do Shuichi, _don't_ cry out.//_

_//As if you'd let me,//_ Kurama thought dryly. Strangely Kuronue's blows stopped, leaving a trail of Kurama's blood as they withdrew. Kurama managed to look up with the strength he had left. Kuronue was smiling.

"There are multiple types of pain, little fox," he said simply. 'What is he…?' Kurama wondered before it hit him.

"No! Kuronue!" he said frantically, trying to stand only to find that Kuronue had severed quite a few of the major muscles in his legs. "Kuronue! Stop!"

"Traitor," Kuronue said coldly. His knife flashed, blood splattered.

"No! Kuronue, stop!" Kurama yelled frantically as he watched Hiei's blood flow over the knives and felt Hiei's remaining energy weaken. "Kuronue _stop it!_ Your fight is with me!" he yelled but Kuronue paid him no attention. "Kuronue stop!" he shrieked as he felt Hiei's energy begin to fade from his senses. "No! Kuronue stop! Stop it!" Tears were rolling down his cheeks. He pulled and thrashed against Youko's hold but the fox held tight against his struggles.

"Youko let me go!" he yelled hysterically.

_//No,//_ came the fox's reply. The knife came down on Hiei one last time. The koorime's energy faded completely. Kurama's eyes widened.

"Noooooooooo!" his yell echoed around the forest before it faded into sobs. His stomach lurched; his head was spinning, the strength faded from his muscles, the scene in front of him faded, leaving only one image in his mind… Hiei…

* * *

A/N – I KNOW KURAMA WAS FEMININELY WEAK IN THIS CHAPTER! Please bear with me, there is a reason! Sorry if that Kuronue scene was too short... and with that said... 

Pleeeeaaaaasseee review and I will love you for the rest of your life! …Then again… that _might_ be discouragement… ok, review and I'll stop poking you! (poke) (poke) (poke) …

And a little thank you to…

_KittyKat12567_

For reviewing the last chapter, and to…

_Naminee_

_And Tala ishtar_

…For reviewing the first chapter. I'm REALLY sorry for not thanking you in the last chapter! PLEASE forgive me! I LOVE YOU REVIEWERS!!!


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